1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to information recording and reproduction and, more specifically, to the reproduction of information from an information carrying tape, to flutter correcting systems, and to piezoelectric tape drive capstans and tape guiding and reproduction head actuating or mounting devices and systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Efforts to counteract time base errors, such as flutter, with electromechanical means are of long standing. Prominent in this area are movable reproduce heads for compensating flutter and skew errors. In prior-art systems of this type, reproduce heads are either moved linearly back and forth in parallel to the direction of tape advance or are moved angularly with and against the tape advance in order to provide for a compensation of time base errors, as may for instance be seen from U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,646, by Jean Pierre Beauviala, issued Sept. 25, 1973; Gomer L. Davies, Magnetic Tape Instrumentation, (McGraw-Hill 1961), Chapters 6.2 and 6.3; and Harry F. Olson et al, A Magnetic Tape System for Recording and Reproducing Standard FCC Color Television Signals, RCA REVIEW, Sept. 1956, pp. 330 to 357 etc.
Systems of this type are generally complex in their practical execution, are relatively inert, difficult to operate successfully and liable to generation of tape wear and other detrimental effects through continual friction relative to the information carrier layer of the tape.
These disadvantages have persisted in the area under consideration despite a large variety of proposals concerning the control of moving webs and the control of various devices with the aid of rapidly acting crystal transducing devices. Representatives of such devices and systems are apparent from U.S. Pat. No. 2,666,512, by E. O. Codier, issued Jan. 19, 1954, U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,295, by D. L. De Moss, issued June 4, 1968, U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,192, by H. Schlossbauer, issued Jan. 26, 1971, U.S. Pat. No. 3,577,021, by I. F. Gerks, issued May 4, 1971, and J. A. Baring, Control of Moving Webs, MACHINE DESIGN, September 1953, pp. 151 et seq.